>Devils Club SUPREME,
>here are two links to the New Rainbow Bridge and information they have
>posted about DC Supreme.  The first is a link to the article Steve and
>Diane wrote about their experiences with this herb.  It does not contain
>just the Devil's Club Root Bark, but also Indian Jambul Seed, Dandelion
>Leav and Root, Uva Ursi Leaf, Tumeric Rhizome, Spring water and Grain
>Alcohol (another ingredient that many disagree with, but if added to
>warm gravy, it dissipates).
 
Off hand, I am not familiar with some of these, and doubt this week will
be a good time for me to be looking them up, but I am curious about the
inclusion of Turmeric for two reasons.  Turmeric is understudy for a
range of things, including reducing diabetes so it seems strange to
include when the opposite condition is present.  The main reason I am
writing, though, is to ask how much turmeric is present and if any of the
ferrets getting it have had problems with bleeding.  Urmeric is great as
an anti-inflammatory (and that is probably putting it mildly -- just an
FYI when I get things like influenza I eat extra turmeric and it really
does help reduce the symptoms for me for a while after eating), but like
many anti- inflammatory meds it can reduce clotting.  I have been
wondering if it might have applications in ferrets who are throwing clots
(thrombosies) due to heart disease, kidney disease, or lymphoma, but have
worried about bleeding risk.
 
Like you I usually don't worry about tiny amounts of alcohol if the
ferret does not have liver disease.  Alcohol is like sugar in that it
has its own herbal med applications (like cough suppression) if it is
not over-done or inappropriate for the individual (and sugar often is
inappropriate for ferrets).  I am trying to recall (today is not a good
day for that because we have just had another human family member death,
my aunt, Fran) what alcohol's effect is on blood glucose.  I think it
raises blood glucose, but today isn't a good day, so if I wrong I know
there are those here like Linda Iroff and Mike Janke who can offer a
gentle correction and clarification.
[Posted in FML issue 5066]